Seven
by ThePenandtheSword
Summary: Seven minutes after Vaati returned to the Minish realm was all it took for Link to realize how deeply the mage had affected him. LinkVaati. Shounen-ai. Christmas present for Magi Nova.


**Authoress:** It's me again! This one-shot was originally part of an M-rated three-shot I did for my pal, Magi Nova (Stormy-the-Artiste on deviantART), for Christmas. Why am I only posting the first part here? 1.) I thought it was good enough to stand alone as a K+ oneshot, and 2.) I'm ashamed to say it, but the second and third parts stunk.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it. Maybe eventually I'll get the shounen-ai/yaoi outta my system, but I don't think it'll be anytime soon (stop laughing, Sensei…I'm a sick puppy and proud of it! XP ). Ta!

**Title:**_Seven_

**Rating:** K+

**Summary:** Seven minutes after Vaati returned to the Minish realm was all it took for Link to realize how deeply the mage had affected him. LinkVaati. Shounen-ai.

**Warning:** Yes…it's another shounen-ai fic. Whoop-dee-doo. I'm sure some of you are tired of that plot device by now, overused as it may be, but for those of you who don't like it…what the heck are you doing here?! Scoot! Shoo! *waves arms* Go away!

**Disclaimer:** Zelda belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. Still hoping on being a part of Nintendo one day!

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Seven seconds after Link spoke to an unpossessed Vaati, he knew they would be lifelong friends. Seven minutes after Vaati returned to the Minish realm was all it took for Link to realize how deeply the mage had affected him.

Seven days after they had parted company, Link realized he was in love with his former nemesis.

*** L x V * L x V * L x V ***

It had been a few months since the day of Vaati's arrival. The first time they met, Link had surprised him in the forest as he was honing his sword-fighting skills in the wee hours before the tournament. The blue-eyed youth remembered looking up to see a pair of wicked ruby orbs watching his every move, and a sadistic smirk etched into a face of the palest flesh he had ever seen. That, and the fact that Vaati had blown away a dozen trees without even touching them, but I digress…

Link could not say he had fallen for the mage right then. Actually, the first time the two ever spoke, all Vaati managed to do was piss him off. To top it off, he turned Zelda to stone, sending Link on a difficult quest with Vaati's old master, Ezlo, squawking in his ear every five seconds.

But upon seeing the mage losing himself to the overwhelming power of the cap as it combined with the Light Force had ignited something within the lad, and he fought harder than he ever had before---not for Zelda, or Hyrule, or even to protect himself. No, Link fought for Vaati, the boy who had tried to kill him on numerous occasions, whom had turned his friend to stone and siced (though unintentionally at first) monsters upon his homeland.

And it was the best thing he had ever done.

Link soon learned Vaati was not as bad as he originally thought. Once that wretched cap was out of the way and Ezlo and Vaati reconciled, Link, the princess and Vaati truly met for the first time. Link would never forget the happy tears leaking from Vaati's eyes as he offered his hand to the boy, how smooth the flesh of his palm felt and the feel of his grip as the Minish's tiny clawed hand squeezed his own.

According to legend, the Picori Gate closed for another hundred years. Little did anyone know that when Zelda used the remaining power of the cap to heal the land of Hyrule, she kept the entrances open permanently. Not that is was of any consequence---only children could see Picori, after all. To Link's delight, he and Zelda always retained the ability to see and communicate with their Minish friends, even visit with them and vice versa.

"Hey, Vaati!"

The Minish seemed to snap out of his strange daze and turned from the window. Link merely shook his head and sighed.

"Vaati, are you okay?" the Hylian asked. "You seem so distracted…"

"No, I am fine," the imp replied, a strange chill in his voice. Not an icy, 'I-want-you-to-leave-me-alone' chill, but one of someone whom had been lost in thought and had not yet remembered that he was involved in conversation. Link's normally cheerful face contorted into a frown.

"You sure? Maybe I came at a bad time---"

"No, it is alright. Please," the imp nodded, waving his clawed hand in affirmation, "continue."

"Okay, so as I was saying…you remember Zelda, right? Of course you do---she's a princess. You know, she spent a week getting dust out of her hair after you turned her to stone. You think her father would have at least had a maid _dust_ her or something…"

Link prattled on animatedly about happenings in the Hylian realm for a while before he noticed Vaati had turned his attention back out the window again. Link sighed. He had been trying to make friends with Vaati ever since his first visit to the mage, about a week after Hyrule had returned to normal. However, all of their visits had turned out like this: Link would show up grinning and Vaati would stop what he was doing, then the two would sit down, Link would talk until the imp wound up turning his attention elsewhere. It was not that he was antisocial, because he was very amiable whenever Link needed a picolyte potion and would set about work straight away to help.

Actually, Vaati was only sociable when he WAS working. The conversations were always short and to the point, but at least Link got a few words out of him! He loved watching the Minish magician as he worked, watching him deftly chop herbs with the greatest of ease and knowing exactly which bottles of Ezlo's numerous unmarked ingredients would create the perfect tonic. Vaati would stand over the cauldron, his mind lost in thought, as he carefully stirred the liquid bubbling up from within.

But at least he would answer questions then! On days when Ezlo was frustrated with a new creation, he would run everyone out of his shop, leaving Vaati to sit by his window and Link attempting in vain to hold a conversation with the imp.

"Hey, Vaati?" he called out.

"Hmm?" Vaati murmured absentmindedly.

"Ezlo hollered at you."

Vaati merely grunted in acknowledgement but did not turn around. Link tried again.

"Your hair's on fire."

Same response. By now, Link was getting pretty frustrated---and desperate. Nearly six weeks of this same treatment had been driving him nuts. He had tried practically every trick in the book, but nothing---save for shouting---seemed to work on the mage when he spaced out. Finally, Link decided to try something a little…unorthodox.

"Vaati, I'm gay."

Link had said it so nonchalantly, just as he had the other comments. Unfortunately, it hit Vaati's ears with the equivalent of a carriage crashing.

"Wha-what…?!" the imp whipped around, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Link was rather surprised at Vaati's reaction (having not expected anything more than another grunt), so he promptly jumped out of his seat and fell onto the floor. Worried the youth may have hurt himself, Vaati hurried over and dropped down by Link.

"Goddesses, Link! Are you alright?" he barked, panicked ruby eyes scanning over his comrade's body in a mother hen manner. Link could have sworn that had the imp feathers, they would have been all ruffled up and half of them molted by the time he could calm the youth down.

"Geez, Vaati, I'm okay!" he laughed. The mage quickly moved back, stood, and brushed off the dusk from his Minish robes. He gave a light cough, turning his head off to the side as Link pushed himself to his feet. "Hey, are YOU alright, Vaati?"

The imp pulled a sleeved hand up to his face. "Ah, um…yes, I am fine." His voice seemed shaky.

"You don't seem okay, Vaati." Link put his hands on his hips.

"No, I'm fine. Just…"

"Vaati, I can't hear you," Link shook his head. "Take the sleeve down. Your voice is muffled."

After a few moments, the Picori hesitantly complied, looking down at the ground as he removed his hand from his face. He crossed his arms in front of him, revealing the slightest of blushes dusted over his cheeks.

"It's just that," Vaati blurted out, a bit more higher pitched than his normal Picori tone, "I never figured you for liking other guys. I always figured you liked the princess, since you so adamantly set about rescuing her…"

Link blinked, then realized the brevity of what he had said. "Um, actually…" he tried to form words but his mouth just turned everything into senseless babble. He felt his own cheeks flaring up with red as he tried to explain himself. "Th-that's not what I meant! I was trying to snap you out of your daze and, since nothing else seemed to work…well…"

"Oh," Vaati said, sighing. Another emotionless expression crossed his face, draining the blush from his unnaturally pale skin. Link gave a nervous laugh to lighten the atmosphere. "Sorry. I suppose I have been zoning out lately."

Link chuckled. "Ya' think?" A light smile tugged at the corner of the imp's lips. "It's rather hard to be a friend when you have to do all of the talking all the time. It's nice to know I'm not speaking to a rock, you know what I'm saying?" the boy playfully punched the imp in the arm.

""I'll try harder," Vaati said. "I hate to admit it but…" he glanced down at the floor, ashamedly. "Well, apart from Ezlo, you and Zelda have been the only people who have ever been nice to me. Most people treat me like the plague…even before I stole Master's cap, they avoided me because I looked so different."

Link frowned. "That's terrible!" Vaati merely gave a sad smirk.

"At least that's all, nowadays," he said, fidgeting with a loose string on his sleeve. "When I was younger, some of the other Minish children did a lot worse than that…"

With that, Vaati turned his head away.

"I apologize," he returned to his normally eloquent speech. He glanced out of the window. "I fear I have said to much. If you will excuse me," he gave a slight bow of his head, "I must see to dinner. Master always gets so cranky if he does not have his supper on time." And with that, Vaati turned and headed out of the room.

Sighing, Link headed out into the foyer. _What am I going to do?_ he thought to himself. As much as he tried to be Vaati's friend, everything seemed to backfire. And now the imp was just being cryptic.

"Link, what are you doing in here?"

"Wah!" Link snapped out of his daze as he came face to face with the crotchety sage. Ezlo's brow was knitted in its usual condescending manner, his long face as stoic as the bird's that was carved into his staff. He raised an eyebrow at Link's reaction.

"Something wrong, m'boy?" he asked. Link merely sighed. Glancing around, Ezlo gestured with his hand for the Hylian to follow him. Having nothing else to do, Link walked after the elder, half-dragging his feet over the wooden floor of the stump house. He followed Ezlo until they came to one of the few rooms with a door on it (most of the rooms in Ezlo's shop were separated by a leaf or flower petal). The sage opened the door and ushered the boy inside.

Link looked around the room. A large desk, carved directly from the stump so that it was connected to the floor, lay in the center of the room. Along the walls were shelves of books, save for a small hutch at the back that contained who-knows-what. A few large quills and scrolls littered the desk, and the wastebasket was piled high with ruined paper wads.

_Ezlo's office?_ Link pondered. _Vaati says he never lets anyone into his office unless he has something serious to say _(**A/N:** why it was the only room in the house with a lockable door).

"Sit down, Link," the sage gestured to a chair pushed up against the wall. Link took hold of the seat and brought it over in front of the Minish's desk, then sat down. Ezlo took his position at his desk and, leaning the staff against its edge, propped his elbows up on the desk. He interlaced his fingers together and leaned his head against them, then let out a sigh.

"I've noticed that you seem a bit upset after your visits with Vaati. I wonder," he thought aloud, "if there is something amiss?"

Link was silent for a few moments, but finally sighed and spoke.

"He never wants to talk!" the boy replied. "No matter what I do, he always turns and stares out the window. The only time I can get him to say even a few words is when he is working, but I'm lucky to get a few sentences out of him even then! Gah!"

He grabbed at his hair in frustration.

"I try and I try, but there is no getting through to him. Today, I even started saying random things to try to snap him out of his daze. When I actually managed to do that, he got all upset and started talking about the other Minish ostracizing him…"

Ezlo groaned. "I see…" he closed his eyes for a moment, his brow narrowing even further that Link thought was possible. After a long moment of deep concentration, the sage opened his eyes and gave another anguished sigh. "Link," the sage stood and picked up his staff, "Vaati's bitterness runs a lot deeper than you think. You see, he really has been ostracized ever since he became my apprentice."

Link gave Ezlo a puzzled look, but Ezlo held up a hand before he could say anything.

"You must listen carefully. Maybe then you can understand why Vaati is the way he is."

And with that, Ezlo began to pace lightly as his tale unfolded.

"Vaati came to stay with me when he was just a child," the sage spoke. "He was the grandson of a good friend of mine, one of the late Cloud Tops Minish. One day, an epidemic swept through the tribe, with all succumbing to it---save the impling himself. Knowing he had inherited the powerful magic of his ancestors, I vowed to make him my apprentice once he grew old enough."

Ezlo stopped for a moment, then sighed again.

"I had hoped the boy would be a welcome member of the village. Unfortunately, some of the Minish in the village were jealous because he became my apprentice rather than their children---others, for Vaati's unusual looks. Being isolated hurt him deeply, and it fueled his bitterness. I suppose I should have been easier on the boy, but I thought instilling a good work ethic in him would bring out his talents and drive him to excel. Sadly, he chose to go about it the wrong way and…well, you know the story from there."

At that, Ezlo turned back to Link.

"What I am trying to say is that, even though you and Zelda are now his friends, Vaati still was alone for so long that he doesn't know _how_ to be a friend. He's not used to holding a conversation with anyone but me, or having any sort of attention lavished on him. If you keep trying, he is bound to come around eventually."

Link gave a faint smile, determined to be Vaati's friend even more than before. He thanked Ezlo, then stood and headed out of the room. Before he could leave, however, the sage called to him.

"Hey, Link!"

"Yeah?" Link whirled around.

"What did you say to bring him out of his daze? I usually can't unless I yell or smack him with my staff." Link winced at the last statement, then blushed profusely.

"Oh…nothing much…I mean, I was just babbling shocking things to see if they would get his attention. I never expected them to work---"

He looked up at Ezlo, his face growing redder with each passing second. Ezlo merely smirked.

"Well, perhaps you should try something equally as shocking the next time he zones out," he gave Link a knowing wink, which sent the now creeped-out Hylian fleeing from the room. Satisfied with his friend's reaction, Ezlo sat back down at the desk in hopes that his advice would help.

*** L x V * L x V * L x V ***

Link found Vaati in the kitchen, his mind focused on stirring the large pot of stew before him. Stifling a laugh, he decided to try out Ezlo's strange advice. Carefully, using every ounce of caution pounded into his instincts after traversing numerous dungeons, he crept upon the unaware Picori with the stealth of a cat. Then, just as the imp replaced the pot lid and stood, Link threw his arms around the Minish and pulled him into a crushing hug.

"WHAT IN THE HELL…?!" the imp struggled out of the embrace. "_**LINK!!!**_" He glared accusingly at the hero, hands on his hips. Link merely chuckled.

"Serves you right, ignoring me all the time," the youth smirked. Vaati merely harrumphed and crossed his arms, then whipped his head to the side to glare daggers at the wall. Link snickered. "Don't tell me the great wind mage Vaati, the once scourge of Hyrule, is _pouting?_"

If Vaati could have done spells telepathically, Link would have been stone that very moment.

"Well, at least _I_ don't go around wearing _skirts_ and _tights_ all the time!" the mage shot back, his eyes blazing like hellfire. Link was taken aback.

"Hey, it's a tunic, and you know it!" he poked the imp in the chest.

"Skirt!"

"Tunic!"

"Skirt!"

"TUNIC!"

Vaati shoved the boy with all his might, knocking him back onto the table. "Oh, puh-LEASE!" he rolled his eyes. "That thing's more girly than one of Zelda's gowns!"

Link scowled for a moment, gripping the edge of the table with intense fury. How _dare_ Vaati insult his fashion sense?! All he did was scare the living daylights out of him with a hug! Suddenly, the most wicked comment---the comeback to rival all comebacks---struck Link like lighting to a tree.

Smirking, the Hylian calmly fired back, "well, at least I don't _**LOOK**_ like a girl!"

Vaati flushed crimson. He clenched his fists by his sides, shaking, before raising a hand in clawlike fashion and bared his teeth.

"You take that back!" he barked, trying to sound scary. Unfortunately, Vaati had much less a terrifying effect as a Minish mage than a powerful pseudo Hylian sorcerer, and his attempt at a menacing roar came out high-pitched and shaky in what could only be compared to a hamster on crack. Link, trying his best to choke down a laugh at the imp's reaction, barely managed to get a retort out.

"Oh? As a Hylian, you wore your hair nearly down to your ass, your clothes always smell like flowers, AND you giggle! Honestly, what kind of a villain _giggles?_ What was your second plan if looking for the Light Force failed---making the soldiers LAUGH to death?"

Link had gone too far with his little jokes. Furious, the Minish launched himself at Link, grabbing hold of the youth's tunic with one hand and doling out a right cross to the boy's face. Grunting in pain, Link threw the boy off and moved into a fighting stance.

"Fine! You wanna get it on?" he wiped his busted lip, smearing blood onto the back of his hand. "Bring it, imp-boy!"

Vaati let out a cross between a hiss and an angry shriek and darted at Link. The two slammed together, grappling hands as they braced their feet against the floor. Face to face, both growling their frustration at one another, they struggled as each of them tried to assert his dominance over the other. Finally, Link brought his back leg forward and swept the Minish's leg, sending both crashing to the floor.

"Ach!" Vaati cried out as they fell, surprised at the hero's underhanded technique.

"Are you okay, Vaati?" he asked, slight panic in his voice. Vaati could only stare at the Hylian, his words caught in his throat. Concern was etched onto the boy's face. Was he actually worried if he had hurt him? They were fighting just a moment ago! But that did not erase the horrified grimace on Link's face. Vaati gazed up into frightened cerulean eyes and his breath hitched.

_His eyes are really pretty…they look like the sky…_Then the metaphorical carriage crash resounded in Vaati's brain and he realized what he had just thought. _Whoa, whoa, WHOA! I shouldn't be thinking about his _eyes!_ Vaati, what the hell is wrong with you? This is Link you're talking about! It should matter if his eyes are pretty or not…even if they are…Gah! Bad, Minish---BAD! Have you lost your mind?!_

"Vaati, speak to me!"

A now freaked-out Link was lightly slapping Vaati's face, trying to bring him back to reality. The mage quickly awoke from his mental argument and nodded quickly. Link let out a relieved sigh and lowered his head.

"Thank Goddesses! I thought I had hurt you when I knocked you down---"

Suddenly, the leaf covering the door lifted and a shout rang out through the kitchen.

"_**WHAT IN THE DARK WORLD IS GOING ON HERE?! VAATI, LINK…WHY, I OUTTA…!**_"

Ezlo stopped in his tracks. There, in the middle of the kitchen floor, lay his apprentice sprawled out beneath his Hylian friend. Vaati's hair was splayed out all over the floor, his hands gripped tightly by Link's. Both imp and Hylian were crimson-faced and panting. The sage immediately capped his hand over his eyes and groaned.

"Goddesses, Link…! When I said do something drastic to get his attention, I didn't mean _RAPE_ him!"

That's when the two boys realized just how compromising a position they were in. They probably would have moved away from each other right then, but before their brains managed to process the thought, Ezlo swooped down on the duo in a vengeance.

"HOW DARE YOU TWO HAVE SEX IN MY KITCHEN?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, swinging away at the petrified youths with his staff. "DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD THIS IS GOING TO SCAR ME? I'M GONNA HAVE TO SCRUB MY EYES OUT WITH SOAP TO GET THE IMAGES OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Terrified out of their minds by Ezlo's rampage and spurred on by his unintelligible rambling, both boys scrambled as fast as they could out of the sage's path. Link leapt over the table as Vaati darted beneath it, only to have Ezlo break it in half with a well-aimed staff blow. Link grabbed Vaati's wrist and jerked him out of the way just as splinters erupted behind them. They sprinted to the other side of the kitchen, pushing chairs into the path of the deranged Minish as they went. They reached the cabinets just as a war cry rang out, causing Vaati to shove Link away as Ezlo brought his staff down jump-attack-style onto the cabinets---shattering them in a shower of magical sparks.

The attacks and screamed pleading continued until Ezlo imbedded the ornamental bird atop his staff into the wall, when Vaati to crack him over the head with a small stack of plates and render his master unconscious, that the boys managed to escape. They bolted from the house, nearly hoarse from screaming, and headed straight into the tall grass forest.

"Oh, my Goddesses, he's gonna KILL us!" Link shouted. "What are we gonna do?!"

"Serpentine, Link!" Vaati cried out, darting through the brush in an odd zigzag pattern. "It's harder for him to hit a moving target!"

"I'm moving as fast as I can!" the hero yelled in an uncharacteristically high-pitched fashion, picking up enough speed to pass the frightened Minish. Vaati's eyes nearly bugged out as he saw Link zoom by him.

"Hey, wait for me!"

"You know what they say, Vaati! You don't have to be the fastest---just faster than your slowest friend!"

Vaati's face went red again. "Damn you, Link! When I catch up to you, you won't have to worry about Ezlo getting a hold of you---_I'm_ going to kill you!"

"That's IF you ever catch up to me, slowpoke!" Link yelled over his shoulder. "You might be good with spells, but you suck at running!"

"Hey, I'm a Minish! We weren't built for speed, you idiot!" Vaati dodged a blade of grass that Link pushed out of his path right before it smacked him in the face.

"I'm not an idiot, you frigid, shrimpy, angst-ridden, antisocial, grudge-holding, little emo!"

"Why, you---!" Vaati gained his second wind, rushing up beside Link. "You dense, arrogant, reckless, vexing, simple-minded, muscle-bound, skirt-wearing---"

"It's NOT a skirt!"

"---tight-toting, obnoxious, overbearing, ostentatious, moronic excuse for a hero!"

"What?!" bellowed the offended Link. "Well, you're a long-haired, flamboyant, vain, girly midget!"

"I'm am not a midget!"

"But you _are_ girly?" Link smirked, which sent Vaati into a near convulsion with fury.

"Who are you calling 'girly', you skirt-wearing freak?"

"For the last time, Vaati!" Link roared. "It's a TUNIC, not a damn SKIRT!"

Since they were in the middle of a verbal bashing battle, neither boy noticed the side of the entrance stump in front of them.

…That is, until they both slammed into it, full-force.

_WHAM!_ Both kids hit the stump, sending them hurling into another dog pile, with Vaati sprawling across Link as the hero hit the ground. But even with the breath knocked out of themselves, the comeback war persisted.

"You…" Vaati wheezed, "…you jerk."

"Forget…forget how to use big words," Link winced as he spoke, "little man?"

"I hate you."

Link coughed out a raspy laugh. By now, his legs were complaining but his mouth was unwilling to continue. Vaati must have had the same thoughts, because he soon slipped into silence and contented himself with letting his light weight discomfort his rival. For the longest while they lay there, listening as the air refilled their aching lungs and their pounding hearts droned back to a lull.

When he could finally breathe properly again, Link spoke.

"Hey, Vaati?" Link asked nervously.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Ezlo hates us?"

Vaati giggled. "No, he just likes having an excuse for target practice. I should know."

"Oh…" Link gazed up at the grass blades that towered far above them, half-masking the azure sky, as he tried to ignore the warmth of the Minish lying across his chest.

"What was he going on about when he said he gave you advice?" Vaati piped up, quieter than usual.

"Oh, THAT…" the hero groaned, turning his head to the side as a light blush crept across his face. "I told him I was having trouble reaching you through conversation, and that the only way I could snap you out of it was by saying something outrageous. He said I should try something equally as shocking to get your attention."

"So that was why you hugged me…" Vaati went quiet for a moment. Cicadas hummed in the distance, filling the grassy forest around them in a droning lullaby. "Hey, Link?"

"Yeah?"

"So when you said saying something outrageous was the only way to get my attention earlier, that means you were joking about being gay?"

Link had not expected Vaati to bring his outburst up again. He was quiet for a moment as his mind raced. What was he to do? Should he lie to Vaati, say it was all a joke and laugh it off? After all, he was Vaati's first friend---what if Vaati thought Link was disgusting for liking him? After what Ezlo told him about what the other Minish did to him, Vaati might lose himself completely this time.

But the more Link thought about it, he realized that Vaati would be more angry about Link lying to him than hiding his feelings. His heart was beginning to speed up again, and he knew Vaati could feel it as he lay above him. He thought he felt the body above him stiffen. No, Link would not lie to Vaati, even if it meant losing him. He gulped, then parted his lips and allowed those fateful words to slip through.

"Only for you, Vaati."

A tiny gasp issued from the mage. Link clenched his eyes shut, exhaling as his heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach. Vaati was sure to hate him. He would never want to speak to him again. He knew his first friend was a freak and Link would have to live with knowing he had probably sent Vaati reeling into depression even worse than he already was. As his eyes scrunched tighter, Link could feel a stinging in his face---signifying the oncoming gush of tears that were sure to follow. He tightened his grip on the grass around him as he braced himself for Vaati's rejection.

Suddenly, he heard giggling.

"That's good," Vaati said, "because I would _hate_ to have had to share you with anyone else."

Link's eyes shot open as Vaati raised his head. The imp was smiling. Not a wicked, mischievous smirk, but a genuine smile. Link thought it made the mage's face just brighten up. As he looked up into the imp's fiery ruby eyes, he lifted his hand to the mage's face. Vaati winced for a moment, as if someone were about to strike him, but Link had only reached for a lock of the boy's hair. He let the sleek strands of lavender slip through his fingers, combing through them as he gingerly trailed his fingertips over the other's cheek.

"Vaati, you have no reason to fear me," Link's voice deepened. "If anyone should be afraid, it is me."

The mage's eyes widened in shock. "You? The hero of Hyrule? The boy fought his way through four temples and countless monsters to save a princess and defeat a demon?"

"You were no demon, Vaati," Link retorted, "just a lonely kid full of bitterness."

"Then why are _you_ afraid?" Vaati's voice warbled with nervousness. Link smiled.

"Because I'm afraid," Link replied softly, "that the beautiful mage above me will leave and never come back. That this warmth," he traced a solitary finger over the mage's lips, "will disappear the moment I touch it, that I will wake up and find you had been nothing but a dream."

Vaati gazed down into the cerulean orbs below him, watching them glisten as fresh tears bubbled up. He felt a shiver run up his spine as the anguish on the boy's face became apparent. Deep down, the wind mage was scared. The others had either despised him or avoided him---would Link do the same? Was this all some plot to get back at him for trying to take over Hyrule during his darkness, by toying with his feelings and breaking his heart and spirit?

Looking down at the blonde-haired youth, Vaati knew his fears were misplaced. Instinctively, he leaned his head down and gently kissed the droplets shimmering on Link's eyes. He raised back up, a knot forming in his stomach over the act.

Rather than being pushed away, however, Link reached up and wrapped his arm's around the imp's back, pulling him close.

"Link…" Vaati murmured as he nuzzled his head against the crook of his neck. "You have no idea how long I've wanted this."

Link chuckled as he tightened his embrace on the boy.

"Oh, I think I do…"


End file.
